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Devils Lake could be next!

Amanda Havelange

Hunter

As most of you know, there is a hog operation proposed near Devils Lake. The detrimental effects this could have on the community are far too horrendous to ignore. There are more than 1,500 members in a Lake Region Concerned Citizens group on Facebook, and hundreds of others outside Facebook, whom have stepped forward in opposition of the proposed hog operation that is threatening the community.

A simple search of “Devils Lake ND” brings up the tourism page. It is clear that the main attraction is the lake. “Hog waste is extremely harmful to wetlands, streams, creeks and rivers. When hog waste gets into the water it can instantly kill fish and other small life forms that come into direct contact with it.” “In 2011, an Illinois hog farm spilled 200,000 gallons of manure into a creek, killing over 110,000 fish” (2 sources). Devils Lake could be next!

A study done on Lake Alice shows “a significant positive correlation between the nutrient measures of nitrate-nitrite and total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and the percentage of concentrated animal feeding operation nutrient management areas using the non-parametric Spearman rho method. Significant correlations were also noted between total organic carbon and nearness to concentrated animal feeding operations. Dissolved oxygen, pH, sulfate, E. coli, total phosphorus, nitrate-nitrite, and aluminum exceeded state of North Dakota and/or US Environmental Protection Agency water quality standards and/or guidelines” (research gate).

According to the NDG&F, they estimate that the direct annual angler expenditures spent by anglers fishing on Devils Lake and Stump Lake to be $89million per year, this does not account for secondary expenses. As you can see, the Lake Region brings in quite a few bucks in tourism for our state. What happens if the Lake Region is no longer a tourism hot spot because the lake is contaminated, filled with dead fish and unusable?

Grand Prairie Ag is an “LLP” which in my opinion is the same as a corporate farm that the citizens of North Dakota voted against. Governor Burgum is supposed to be representing the people that elected him, and he has declined on three different occasions to even look at the sites they plan to dump hog waste, or put up their operation.

Governor Burgum: Your campaign posters all said “For North Dakota,” Devils Lake is part of this great state, and deserves your attention to this matter… the invite still stands, and we are waiting.

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